If you are caught up in an emergency situation that impacts your household, it can have immediate effect on your food and water supply. Power outages can mean that fridges stop working to keep the food cool, and there is no way of cooking your food because all the electrical and gas appliances cease to work. This article explains how to keep your food and water supply safe to eat during and after an emergency.

Steps

Method1

Food and Cooking

1

Note that water is considered safe when it can be used for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene. This includes bottled, boiled, or treated water. In the event of an emergency, it is likely that your national, state/provincial, regional, local, or tribal health department will make specific recommendations for boiling or treating water in your area.

2

Identify and throw away food that may not be safe to eat. It is vital that you don't try to eat food items that are not safe - the emergency services will probably already be stretched to their limits and you can do without having sick family members during an emergency. It is important to:

Throw away food that may have come in contact with flood or storm water.

Note that thawed food that contains ice crystals or is 40ºF/4.4ºC or below can be refrozen or cooked.

Throw away canned foods that are bulging, opened, or damaged.

3

Be additionally careful with food that has come into contact with floodwater. Floodwater is contaminated water and can infect food:

Food containers with screw-caps, snap-lids, crimped caps (soda pop bottles), twist caps, flip tops, snap-open, and home canned foods should be discarded if they have come into contact with floodwater because they cannot be disinfected.

If cans have come into contact with floodwater or storm water, remove the labels, wash the cans, and dip them in a solution of 1 cup of bleach in 5 gallons/3.7 liters of water. Relabel the cans with a marker. Include the expiration date.

4

Do not use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and prepare food, wash your hands, make ice, or make baby formula.

5

Store food safely. While the power is out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Add block ice or dry ice to your refrigerator if the electricity is expected to be off for longer than 4 hours. Wear heavy gloves when handling ice.

6

Feed infants and young children with care.

Breastfed infants should continue breastfeeding. For formula-fed infants, use ready-to-feed formula if possible. If using ready-to-feed formula is not possible, it is best to use bottled water to prepare powdered or concentrated formula. If bottled water is not available, use boiled water. Use treated water to prepare formula only if you do not have bottled or boiled water.

If you prepare formula with boiled water, let the formula cool sufficiently before giving it to an infant.

Clean feeding bottles and nipples with bottled, boiled, or treated water before each use.

Wash your hands before preparing formula and before feeding an infant. You can use alcohol-based hand sanitizer for washing your hands if the water supply is limited

7

Clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces. The US CDC recommends discarding wooden cutting boards, baby bottle nipples, and pacifiers. These items cannot be properly sanitized if they have come into contact with contaminated flood waters. Clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces in a four-step process:

Wash with soap and warm, clean water.

Rinse with clean water.

Sanitize by immersing for 1 minute in a solution of 1 teaspoon of chlorine bleach (5.25%, unscented) per gallon of clean water.

Allow to air dry.

Method2

Drinking, cleaning and bathing water

1

Be conscious that water may not be safe to drink, clean with, or bathe in after an emergency such as a hurricane or flood. During and after a disaster, water can become contaminated with microorganisms, such as bacteria, sewage, agricultural or industrial waste, chemicals, and other substances that can cause illness or death.

2

Listen to and follow public announcements. Local authorities will tell you if tap water is safe to drink or to use for cooking or bathing. If the water is not safe to use, follow local instructions to use bottled water or to boil or disinfect water for cooking, cleaning, or bathing.

3

Use only bottled, boiled, or treated water for drinking (however, see guidance above for infants), cooking or preparing food, washing dishes, cleaning, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, making ice, and bathing until your water supply is tested and found safe. If your water supply is limited, you can use alcohol-based hand sanitizer for washing your hands.

4

If you use bottled water, be sure it came from a safe source. If you do not know that the water came from a safe source, you should boil or treat it before you use it.

5

Boil water. When practical, boiling water is the preferred way to kill harmful bacteria and parasites. Bringing water to a rolling boil for 1 minute will kill most organisms. Boiling will not remove chemical contaminants. If you suspect or are informed that water is contaminated with chemicals, seek another source of water, such as bottled water.

If you can't boil water, you can treat water with chlorine tablets, iodine tablets, or unscented household chlorine bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite). If you use chlorine tablets or iodine tablets, follow the directions that come with the tablets. If you use household chlorine bleach, add 1/8 teaspoon (~0.75 milliliter [mL]) of bleach per gallon of water if the water is clear. For cloudy water, add 1/4 teaspoon (~1.50 mL) of bleach per gallon. Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it. Treating water with chlorine tablets, iodine tablets, or liquid bleach will not kill many parasitic organisms. Boiling is the best way to kill these organisms.

6

Do not rely on water disinfection methods or devices that have not been recommended or approved by local health authorities. Contact your local health department for advice about water treatment products that are being advertised.

7

Use water storage tanks and other types of containers with caution. For example, fire truck storage tanks and previously used cans or bottles may be contaminated with microbes or chemicals. Water containers should be thoroughly cleaned, then rinsed with a bleach solution before use:

Mix soap and clean water in container. Shake or stir to clean inside of container, then rinse.

For gallon- or liter-sized containers, add approximately 1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) household bleach (5.25%) with 1 cup (240 mL) water to make a bleach solution.

Cover the container and shake the bleach solution thoroughly, allowing it to contact all inside surfaces. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

8

Practice basic hygiene. Wash your hands with soap and bottled water or warm water that has been boiled or disinfected. Wash your hands before preparing food or eating, after toilet use, after participating in clean-up activities, and after handling articles contaminated with floodwater or sewage. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to wash your hands if you have a limited supply of clean water.

Community Q&A

If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know.

Video

This video gives tips on how to stock your pantry in preparation for natural and manmade disasters. From the CDC.

Tips

Flooded, private water wells will need to be tested and disinfected after flood waters recede. If you suspect that your well may be contaminated, contact your local, state, or tribal health department or agriculture extension agent for specific advice.